Dining room mirror ideas to make your space shine

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, make my dining room the fairest of them all". And the right dining room mirror ideas will truly make your space shine. A mirror can reflect light and space while also allowing you to stamp your own style on an empty wall. 

When looking a mirror for your dining room, there’s so much choice when it comes to style, finish and shape – you can keep things simple with a neat frame or really go to town with an elaborate design; cluster vintage mirrors together or line up a pair of mirrors with perfect symmetry. 

Where you place your mirror will depend on what you want to achieve. If it’s part of a feature wall, then Lisa Honiball of Honey Interior Design, says ‘It should be the wall that already has a lot going on – this will draw the eye.’ If it’s to increase the sense of light, then try positioning a mirror opposite or at a right angle to a window. 

Wherever you place your dining room mirror, make sure it can be appreciated – and that it’s not uncomfortable for guests when seated at your table. Starring at yourself over dinner might not be everyone’s idea of a great dinner date. 

Dining room mirror ideas

Use these dining room mirror ideas to experiment with shape and style. Mirrors make great feature wall ideas – from a single mirror to a collective group, try these easy, yet impactive ideas.

1. Go for a contemporary sunburst

Mix metallics to add contemporary style, teaming a sliver sunburst with together with touches of gold or brass – it’s a great way of warming up a cool room. 

For your dining room wall decor, hang your mirror centrally above the fireplace, working with the shape of the mirror to style the mantelpiece below – arrange accessories from the middle to the outside edge, working low to tall. If you want your mirror to ‘pop’ more, then try placing against a darker wall colour.

2. Create a sunken mirror wall

Use large mirror panels inset into a faux wall for a statement wall behind a bench – one large panel of glass would be too much; here the stone-effect surround (which could be made from MDF, timber or plasterboard, which is then painted) breaks the area reflected.

Try using foxed dining room mirror ideas, which are less stark than clear mirror. Foxing describes the silvering in a mirror, which can look misty or tarnishes – it gives a lovely vintage look.

3. Keep it traditional with an overmantel mirror

Echo the lines of a period fireplace with an overmantel mirror. Designed to sit along the mantel, the arch softens the lines of the fireplace below. Choose a design in the same finish as your fireplace for a crisp look, or match to your dining room paint ideas used throughout the space.

While overmantel mirrors look as if they are leant against the wall, it’s always best to fix in place – you should find discreet screw holes either side, or a string across the back of the mirror to fix to a central wall screw.

4. Make a mirror part of a gallery

Dining room walls are perfect for galleries, making a personal feature wall. Start with a mirror placed central on your wall and work outwards, adding photo frames, postcards and other curios for a lovely display.

Got a square-shape mirror? Try hanging diagonally on the wall, helping it stand out when surrounded by other square and rectangular shapes.

5. Go landscape

A great way to visually trick the eye into thinking your space is a different shape than it is is by using dining room mirror ideas. Of course, mirrors enlargen small dining rooms, but in a narrow spaces, hang a rectangular mirror landscape in orientation; the larger width of glass creates a sense of greater width. 

Look for interesting detail to give a white mirror hung against a white painted wall impact. A French-style mirror, with raised detailing, echoes the style of the painted dining table and dining chairs.

6. Play with scale

Buy a set of mirrors in different sizes for an easy – yet stylish – dining wall décor idea. Rattan designs are lightweight and easy to hang through any loop; just make sure any fixing protrudes the wall enough, so the mirror hangs flush. 

Why not start a wall of dining rom mirror ideas, all connected by the material of the frame? Try vintage-style, retro-inspired or frameless as your collection’s common thread.

7. Fake a window

In a window-less dining room, why not create the impression of a window with a mirror? It's one of the budget dining room mirror ideas as it saves you from having to manually create a window for the similar effect.

There are plenty of framed designs available at the moment ranging from square to rectangular, round, and even shuttered options. Place above a sideboard or console, which will help ‘ground’ your mirror – it will look less floaty.

Add depth to your dining room mirror ideas arrangement with a large vase of foliage placed to reflect in your mirror – it will look twice as full too! 

8. Make full use of a chimney breast

Lead the eye up with a large starburst mirror on a chimney breast wall, which allows a pretty capiz shell pendant dining room lighting and shelves lined with ceramics to be appreciated too.

A matt silver finish, echoes silver touches used throughout the space. Such a feature mirror is a great way of giving wooden furniture a touch of romance too. 

9. Reflect a small dining corner

If your dining table sits in a corner of your living space, then use a large mirror hung portrait, to create the sense of a bigger area. Think about the height you hang your mirror – go high and reflect the tabletop with, perhaps a pretty floral arrangement on and any light fitting, rather than the legs of the table and chairs. 

Upcycle a wooden frame by painting two or three shades darker than your dining room colour scheme, this will help define the dining space of an open-plan living room, and is a great idea for what to do with leftover paint. 

10. Repeat shapes in your space

Look for repetition around your dining room for a pleasing design. Here, the curved backs of the dining chairs are repeated in the choice of a round mirror and wall clock. 

Think about the visual gap between your mirror and your dining table; try a vase with tall foliage to bridge the gap between the two – it’s much more pleasing to the eye than an empty expanse of wall.

What size mirror should go in a dining room?

The size of the dining room mirror ideas you choose depends on several factors. Ask if you want to create a ‘wow’ moment or increase the sense of light and space – then go large; if you want to add a mirror as part of a gallery wall, or don’t want guests to stare at themselves, then try several smaller ones. If hanging on a chimneybreast, the mirror should always be narrower than the breast’s width.

When choosing a mirror size, try not to mirror the size of your table. While you can repeat the shape, if it’s the same size, then there won’t be any visual play of scale. As a rule of thumb, keep any mirror to two thirds the size of any neighbouring furniture.

How do you choose the shape of a mirror?

Try experimenting with different shapes of dining room mirror ideas by cutting out templates from newspaper and seeing how they look on your preferred wall. Look to echo shapes or introduce a new shape – like an oval or diamond. If you have lots of clean lines through your furniture choices, then a round mirror will add contrast, while a classic strong rectangle one will add depth. Think about the effect you want to create: a tall, narrow shape, like an oval or rectangle, will lead the eye up, while a round or curved shape gives a softer feel.